TVs have been used for a long time as home electronic devices, mainly as video playback devices. However, with the development of image media, digital TVs have come into use and, with the spread of the Internet, digital TVs have expanded functions and ranges thereof as multi-purpose composite devices rather than as video playback devices.
Recently, as unidirectional broadcasting has changed into bidirectional broadcasting due to the development of communication technology such as the Internet, the boundary between broadcasting and communication is blurring. It is therefore possible to perform communication between various electronic devices and to form various scales of networks.
In the case of home electronic devices, communication between the electronic devices, for example, between a TV, a refrigerator, an air conditioner, an audio system, and a telephone may be performed and a home network to which the electronic devices are connected is being formed. In such a home network environment, the roles of a TV having optimal display performance and most frequent use have become more important.
In the case of digital TVs capable of performing bidirectional communication, for example, over the Internet, it is very important to perform functions not only as an image display device but also as a network device, as opposed to conventional TVs. Accordingly, there are cases in which a network function should operate even when a user powers off the digital TV.